Hinged face guards



June 1959 .1. P. MONETTA HINGEID FACE GUARDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 20, 1955 Joy/v P. Man/E 7779 m/ VENTOR A T Tom/E Y June 1959 J. P. MONETTA HINGED FACE GUARDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 20, 1955 Johw f? Moms-rm AT TO/P/VE Y United States Patent "ice 2,892,195 HINGED FACE GUARDS John Paul Monetta, Toledo, Ohio Application September 20, 195$,Seri iNo. 535,376 1 Claim. (Cl. 1-9

The present invention relates to new and important improvements in football helmets and more particularly to football helmets employing a face guard for additional face protection. In general the present invention consists of a hinged oif-the-face, stationary face guard that can be readily adapted to any of the ordinary hard shelled helmets now in use and which face guard is designed to be rigidly stationaray when in use and yet easily swung open in order to permit the removal of the helmet and just as easily swung closed to secure it in its rigid stationary oif-the-face position for infallible face guarding protection.

Because of the greatly expanded use of face guards in football the need has become manifest for a more satisfactory permanent type, ofi-the-face, stationary face guard that not only is safe and convenient in operation but one that can be economically constructed as an integral part of the ordinary helmets now in popular use. In the past helmets designed with rigid bars as face guards required the distortion of the helmet to enable the helmet to be slipped over the head causing an improper and hence unsafe fit in operation. Flexible bars and face guards have been attempted but no suitable adjustability for these guards has been found other than to have the face guard movable up and down which is highly unsatisfactory as the face guard must inevitably rest on the chin of the wearer and hence loses most of its protection qualities particularly in the warding off of blows.

In general the helmets of today are unsatisfactory because none can combine the rigid off-the-face protection required while still being able to easily swing open the face guard in order to remove or put on the helmet and then just as easily swing the face guard back to lock it in its permanent rigid operating position. The present invention has met all the rigid demands for an ideal football helmet and face guard by having a sturdier and stronger face guard so designed to be an integral part of the helmet, rigid and stationary when in its off-the-face locked position yet easily unocked and swung out to permit lifting or putting on of the helmet, while at the same time not distorting the helmet design so that a snug, safe fit of the helmet on the head can be had at all times.

Now referring to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the entire helmet assembly with the face guard in its closed or locked position.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the helmet with the face guard in its unlocked and open position.

Figure 3 is a side elevation cut-away view of the receiving member and locking pin, and;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the locking pin in its locked position.

Referring again to the accompanying drawings it can be seen the helmet 1 is the normally used rigid or hard type football helmet made of plastic, leather or the like. The face guard 2 is essentially a sturdy, heavy duty, preferably transparent bar, normally plastic, positioned transversely and forwardly of the face opening prefer- 2,892,195 Patented June 30, 1959 ably to rest between the nose and chin of the wearer. This face guard is arcuate and sufliciently large to remain substantially ofl the face at all times, thus providing the necessary off-the-face protection. The bar must be sufficiently strong to withstand the anticipated blows normal to thegame of football and hence its size and thickness can be varied depending on the material used. The face guard 2 terminates on each end in asingle connecting member 3a and 3b, each of which fits snugly in a corresponding open ended receiving member 4a and 4b which has preferably been formed as an integral part of the helmet ear pieces 1a and 1b. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the connecting members 3a and 3b and the receiving members 4a and 4b are so designed that any blow against the face guard will be transmitted to the receiving member in place of having the blow absorbed by either permanent pin connection 5 or the adjustable lock. pin 6. This is accomplished by having thepin channels 8a and 8b in the connecting member 3a and 3b slightly larger than the pin diameter inorder toresult in a loose fit around the pin while having a snug fit between the surface of the connecting and receiving members. The permanent pin connection 5 connects the connecting member 3b to the receiving member 4b SQ that the face guard is hinge connected at this point for swinging in and out. The opposite end connecting member 3a is releasably locked to receiving member 4a by means of a specially designed novel adjustable lock pin 6 which passes through the pin channels 7a and 8a in the receiving member 4a and connecting member 3a, respectively, when in the locked position as shown in Figure 1. The pin 6 is made releasable by grasping lock pin holder 6a and lifting pin 6 up and completely out of the pin channel of the face guard 8a connecting member 3a to permit the face guard 2 to swing free on hinge pin 5 at its other end. The lock pin 6 is designed as shown in Figures 3 and 4 with a longitudinal cut-away portion 9 on one side and an indented or notched portion 10 near the top of the pin and located on the side of the pin from the longitudinal cut-away portion 9. The pin 6 has an end portion 6b of normal shank cross section to enable this portion to act as a stop for preventing the pin being accidentally completely pulled out of the channel. An abutment screw 11 is embedded in the upper part of the receiving member 4a and positioned so that a portion of its shank intrudes slightly on the channel cross sectional area 7a. Thus, the lock pin 6 when turned so that the longitudinal cut-away portion 9 faces abutment screw 11, the pin 6 is free to move up until its stop end portion 6b contacts the abutment screw 11. In this position the face guard is unlocked and can be swung either in or out. To lock or secure the face guard the grooved portion 10 of pin 6 is brought into play. First connecting member and receiving member pin channels 8a and 7a are aligned by the mere closing of the face guard. The pin 6 is dropped through both channels at which point the notch 10 is in the same plane with the screw 11; thus by turning the pin 90 the notch 10 acts as a stop for pin 6 as it is designed to receive and to encircle the abutment or intruding portion of screw 11 and prevent any up and down movement of pin 6. To release the pin 6, it must be turned back 90 and then lifted to permit unfastening of the face guard.

In order to utilize a chin strap 12, snaps 13a can be provided on each receiving member 4a and 4b for securing the chin strap to the hehnet.

There, of course, can be refinements and variations in the actual design of the present helmet and face guard that still come within the purview of the present invention. For instance, the receiving members 4a and 4b can be made an integral part of the original mold in forming a helmet which is an important utility or these members can be independently attached later as by screw means shown in the accompanying drawings. The actual dimensions of the face guard and its connecting and receiving members can bevaried to provide for desired structural or artistic features. Also the lock pin 6 as de-. scribed herein while preferred for this embodiment nevertheless may have alternative locking means to effectively release and lock the face guard to the helmet.

Fromwhat has been described it is manifest that the present invention is a new and important improvement in football face guards and having fully described this invention, what is now claimed is:

In afootball helmet and face guard of the class described, and having a face guard connecting member disposed on said face guard and a helmet receiving member disposed on said helmet, a releasable pin locking connection for releasably securing saidface guard to said helmet and saidreleasable pin locking connection com- H screw and an upper notched portion recessed a t right anprising an abutment screw embedded in the receiving member and intruding on the upper portion of a pin channel which extends longitudinally through both of said connecting and said receiving members, a pin having an elongated shank with longitudinal cut-away portion on one side to compensate for the intruded abutment gles to said longitudinal cut-away portion recessed so that it will receive the protruding portion of said abutment screw and hence act as a lock to prevent up and down pin movement, and said pin having a lower end portion of normal cross-section to act as a stop in preventing said pin being pulled up beyond said abutment screw, and a pin holder at theupper end portion to act both as a holder for gripping and as a stop to properly position said pin in said pin channel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 20, 1894 

